10 Films That Had To Be Altered Because Of Real Life Tragedies

9. Men In Black II - 9/11

Aurora Shooting Gangster Squad
Columbia Pictures

The first sequel to 1997's Men In Black, MIIB, as it was abbreviated, picks up five years after Agent K's (Tommy Lee Jones) retirement. In that time, Agent J (Will Smith) has become a top operative for the Men In Black, an NYC-based agency that secretly regulates alien activity on Earth.

J is forced to bring his old mentor out of retirement when the evil Kylothian Serleena arrives on Earth in search of the great power source the Light of Zartha, and the pair turn New York into their intergalactic battlefield as they do everything in their power to stop her getting it.

The film's climax leads them to a skyscraper where a ship is ready to take the Light back to its (or, as it turned out, her) home planet. Serleena arrives and tries to hijack the leaving ship, and is gunned down by J and K in the process, who intend to see the Light reach Zartha.

The nameless skyscraper in the scene was originally meant to be two - the Twin Towers. The day after the 9/11 attacks a spokesperson for the film announced that they intended to re-shoot the movie's ending out of respect for 2,996 victims, though street signs for the New York World Trade Center were still visible in shots leading up to the finale.

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Phil still hasn't got round to writing a profile yet, as he has an unhealthy amount of box sets on the go.